Resource Reduction through Peer Quality Control
Quality control (QC) is the process of comparison of the aspects of a sample to a predefined specification. QC exists in operations and in projects spanning all industries. It is a great technique to get things to near perfection. QC tasks are usually carried out by a dedicated resource. This resource is either an old hand from the assembly line or an outsider to the assembly line. I use the term ‘assembly line’ here. By this I mean, the ‘actual operations’ ie the ‘place where deliverables are produced’, industry unspecific. He / she picks up a few finished samples and measures them against specifications, and comes up with defects from the sample set. Extra resources mean extra expenses. Times have now changed. A combination of the current financial crisis - emphasized cost cutting and aggressive use of Six Sigma means that there is room for greater efficiency in the use of funds. A reduction in QC resources would be a good way to start. Consider a team of ten employees on an assembly line making a product / service ‘X’. After a whole set of X has been produced, the selected sample set can be divided between the ten employees for QC checks or employees from the set of ten could take turns to carry out the QC checks. Usually the task of verification would have been done by a dedicated resource. This can now be moved to the employees on the floor to carry out, thus saving the costs of resources required to carry out the job. By the concept put forth above, I do not mean that all QC resources will be eliminated. But I do propose that there can be a reduction where not needed. There will still critical business processes where QC is absolutely required. India is the land of ‘Strategic Value Partners’ (SVP) and it really epitomizes Ronald Coarse’s Law well. Quality plays a major role in the SVP Paradigm. Industries like manufacturing and IT operations, and even to an extent fields such as consulting and project management can benefit from Peer QC. Better use of funds in the form of a cost saving displayed by the SVP is a contributing factor to better value to clients. This may lead to more business and in better times even profit sharing agreements. The approach to each industry or even each of the processes within an industry may differ. There will be differences in case of products and services and how qualitative or how quantitative each product or service is. A thorough industry or process specific analysis in terms of cost and quality will have to precede any action. The first thing to be done to kick start the selected process is building a QC checklist and formulate it into a questionnaire. Assign it to a team member. Carry out the QC on the sample set. Share feedback with the employees. Improve the checklist cyclically. An anti-collusion mechanism system would have to be built in to prevent employees from committing a fraud of sorts. Besides cost reduction, Peer QC also helps in team building as feedback from the peer performing QC is a valuable input for improvement. In the new business paradigm that we are moving into, there is a strong need for governance. Peer QC not only accomplishes that. More importantly, it takes it one step forward by setting up a system for self governance.